


instinct

by canadino



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 14:50:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3533453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo knows Kenma like the back of his hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	instinct

Kuroo knows him so well, down to the cadence of his footsteps to the rhythm of his breathing. It’s because of this that he waits until Kenma finishes a round of his mobile rhythm game and is pressing at the screen absentmindedly, seated with his knees up at the foot of Kuroo’s bed where Kuroo is lying on his back and reading manga before he says, “Go out with me, Kenma.”

“No,” Kenma says.   


“No?” Kuroo looks down the span of his body to the black and gold head of hair floating somewhere beneath his feet.   


“No.”  


“You don’t want to go out with me?”  


“I don’t want to repeat myself,” Kenma says.   


Kuroo says nothing to this and turns back to his manga. Kenma plays another round in silence and as his score is calculated at the end, Kuroo speaks up again. “Do you like me, Kenma?”

“No,” Kenma says. “Not one bit.”  


[=]

Kuroo frequents the second year wing of Nekoma often, because otherwise he will never see Kenma in school barring emergencies and coincidences. Kenma, to his credit, does leave homeroom - he goes to the bathroom, he goes to get his outdoor shoes, he changes rooms when he changes classes. Occasionally he’ll go to the roof to eat lunch when the classroom gets too noisy for him to hear the sounds of his PSP (Yaku asks him why he is so adamant about hearing the looped soundtracks of his games, but everyone knows it only enhances the experience to have every part of a game at your disposal). He doesn’t mind Kuroo’s visits, though, because he acts as a good cover to keep people away when he’s trying to get a full combo. Kenma’s friends are Kuroo’s friends, or at least they talk to him like they’ve known each other for years when really Kuroo’s just good at drawing conversation out and talking about Kenma. Kenma hears bits here and there, but for the most part, Kuroo sits on his desk and Kenma takes up the space behind him, using Kuroo’s broad back to finish off the final boss. 

Sometimes people will ask him his thoughts when he spends an amount of time keeping to himself, but Kuroo never asks. When Kenma completes a save, Kuroo shifts and taps Kenma’s wrist with his fingers. “Are you done for now?”

“Yeah.” Kuroo’s fingers linger, three fingers like he’s taking a pulse or contemplating holding his hand. “You should go back to your homeroom now.”  


“Do you want me to go?”  


“What does it matter.” The first bell signaling the end of lunch rings to prove his point. Kuroo slides off his desk, taking his fingers with him. Kenma puts the PSP down on the desk, which is a little scratched up after years of second years. Kuroo leaves, but not before smiling at a few second years and exchanging words with a few girls at the door. He’s gone out of sight for only a moment before Kenma’s phone buzzes and he gets a message that says [wanna come over after practice?].   


[=]

Kenma doesn’t care either way, he doesn’t care extensively about a lot of things, but Yamamoto’s voice is loud and carries. He’s in the prime of his youth and desires companionship. He tells to anyone who will listen about an ideal date. The thing is, you can’t just do it willy nilly. Dates require planning in advance. And you have to remember birthdays and anniversaries. And you have to be mindful of your significant other’s likes and dislikes. “So bothersome,” Kenma says, thinking about the whole thing. It’s as if he doesn’t have anything else to worry about. There’s too much room for error. 

“What is?” Kuroo asks.   


When he comes over and spends the night, which he does whenever his room begins to feel a little boring, they lay out the spare futon next to Kuroo’s bed but inadvertently, whenever Kuroo comes back from brushing his teeth, Kenma is on the bed. He may be tired of his own room two doors down, but it doesn't mean Kenma is tired of the feeling of a mattress against his back. The futon is okay but sometimes he wakes up with his shoulders aching and dust in his nose. Kuroo never seems to mind because he never kicks him out. “Nothing,” Kenma says. “I was just thinking about nothing.”

“Really?” Kuroo steps on the futon to get to the bed, his footstep leaving an imprint on the blanket. “Hey,” he says, the subtle change in his voice letting Kenma know he’s changing the subject. “Remember when we used to sleep in the same bed when you stayed over when we were younger? You were such a blanket hog.”  


“You used to like sleeping in the cold,” Kenma says.   


“I still kind of do. Haven’t you heard the saying? That heat makes you sick?” Kenma’s cheek is already pressed against the pillow and he doesn’t really care. The feeling of a comforter over him is reassuring and he doesn’t mind waking up in a sweat during late spring nights. “You’re not really listening anymore, are you. I’ll take the floor.”  


“I don’t mind,” Kenma says. “If you want to sleep on the bed too, I mean.”  


Kuroo looks at him. “My bed isn’t really made for two people.”

“Just if you want. You don’t have to.” When Kuroo doesn’t say anything, Kenma shrugs. “I’m a blanket hog though, apparently.”  


Kuroo goes and turns off the light and comes back and pulls the blanket up over the both of them. Kenma flips onto his back and stares up at the ceiling, which he can’t really see yet but his eyes will adjust. He knows Kuroo is lying on his side and looking at him. “I really meant it, you know,” he says quietly. “What I said earlier. About us dating.” 

“What if I don’t like you?”  


“You do.” He does; it’s nothing as grandiose or earthshaking as Yamamoto gushes about, no fluttering pulses or feelings of weightlessness. It’s the simple things, like pausing a round to listen when Kuroo wants to talk and taking the hand that Kuroo puts out when he finds him after a wander around the neighborhood. Kenma doesn’t go off because he has no sense of direction. It’s because sometimes his surroundings don’t interest him and things get too familiar and so people ask him to do favors or what is his opinion on this issue? When he gets lost, he follows his mother’s instructions to stay put and wait for someone to find him and most of the time that person is Kuroo. “We don’t have to date. I don’t really care about official things like that.”  


“Do you want to kiss and things like that?”  


“We don’t have to.”  


“But do you want to.” Kuroo is very still.   


“It would be nice,” he admits.   


“I don’t like things that are bothersome,” Kenma says.   


“I know.” Kuroo flips onto his back too. “Get some sleep. We have practice tomorrow.” The bed really isn’t big enough for two growing boys. When Kuroo turns to face his back toward him, he ends up elbowing Kenma in the arm. The air under the blanket is getting super hot. Kenma doesn’t often sleep with another person’s body heat and he thinks it might take him a while to fall asleep. He eventually does.   


[=]

Kenma wakes up with the weight of Kuroo’s arm slung over his stomach. The way Kuroo is wrapped around him, he thinks he may have become a living body pillow. It isn’t unpleasant. Kenma doesn’t really like being touched when he doesn’t need to be, and it is still kind of hotter under the covers than he’d prefer, but it isn’t so bad. His back is against Kuroo’s chest and he could shift to get some distance, but that would be more work than is worth it. Kuroo wakes up almost immediately when he does anyway, and he can tell because Kuroo’s breathing sounds different when he’s asleep and when he’s awake. Kuroo’s arm retracts and Kenma hears him fumble around for his phone. “Earlier than the alarm,” he whispers, because he knows Kenma is awake too. 

Kenma doesn’t say anything. The phone is placed back on the nightstand next to the bed. There are the sounds of some early birds outside chattering, indistinctly. When Kuroo finally sits up, Kenma already feels the sleep returning to his eyes. If he’s horizontal long enough, his body automatically begins to wind down. “We can have breakfast at your house so you can change shirts,” Kuroo suggests.

“Sure.”  


“Don’t fall back asleep, stupid.” Kenma feels the briefest touch on the crook of his neck and processes it as Kuroo’s lips as Kuroo shuffles out of the room for the bathroom. He stares at the wall and allows himself to think about it for a second. Kuroo’s probably sitting on the toilet with his head in his hands in embarrassment now. Kenma lets out a single laugh and presses his face deeper into the pillow.   


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and leave a comment if you liked!


End file.
